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Introduction

Saturn is a unique planet because of the disc-shaped ring system surrounding it. Galileo first observed the disc in 1610, but thought that it looked more like two large moons because his telescope was not very powerful. In 1655, another astronomer named Huygens was the first to describe the disc as a ring that surrounded, but did not touch, the planet Saturn. He was followed by Cassini, who in 1675 observed that there was a major division in the ring, now called the Cassini Division. This meant that there were at least two rings surrounding Saturn.

In this Hubble Space Telescope image of Saturn captured in November 1999, the globe of Saturn can easily be seen through the gap of the Cassini Division. (image from NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team)

Today we know that Saturn is surrounded by a huge network of rings, called a ring system, each with unique properties. New information from high powered telescopes (like the Hubble Space Telescope) and spacecraft (like Voyager 1 and 2) have added to our understanding of the rings. The most recent spacecraft sent to Saturn was named Casini-Huygens in honor of the first astronomers to study the ring system of Saturn. This mission consists of the Cassini spacecraft which is orbiting the planet, and the Huygens probe, which landed on Saturn's largest moon, Titan.

Modern images of the rings of Saturn have helped astronomers understand how unique the individual rings are. Saturn has seven major rings, and each major ring is made up of many minor rings. The rings differ from each other in composition (what each ring is made of), rotational speed (how fast the particles of the ring orbit the planet) and appearance (what each ring looks like to an observer).

View from Voyager 2 on 17-Aug-81. This false color image reveals striking compositional differences from place to place within the rings. The blue region in this image is the Cassini Division. (image from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

What are the rings of Saturn made of? Why do they look like rings? What makes each ring look unique from other rings? In this experiment, you can investigate how the composition of a ring can change its appearance.

Terms and Concepts

To do this type of experiment you should know what the following terms mean. Have an adult help you search the internet, or take you to your local library to find out more!

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Materials and Equipment

several sheets of black construction paper

glue

different types of small particles of different size, shape and color:

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Experimental Procedure

Select one piece of construction paper for each type of material you will be testing.

Trace the outer edge and the center hole of the record on each sheet of paper.

Cut out the outside of the record shape and poke a hole in the center with a pencil.

Glue the pieces of material to the outer edges of the circle, using a separate circle for each material. The pieces do not need to be tightly packed or uniformly arranged. Think about how pieces of rock and dust might be randomly distributed in the rings of Saturn.

Repeat step four for each type of material and allow all of the circles to dry thoroughly.

After the circles are dry, place your first circle on the record player.

Using a camera, take an overhead picture of the circle while it is still.

Now turn on the record player and take another overhead picture of the circle while it is moving.

Repeat steps 7 and 8 for each type of material.

Print or develop your pictures. Label each picture with the type of material and with "Before" or "After" to keep them organized. You will want to use your pictures for your poster too.

For each material note the appearance before and after rotation, noting the resulting color and appearance of the material.

How do the materials become a ring-like structure? Are some materials different looking than others? How do different types of materials make each ring unique? How do the size and shape of each material change the appearance of the ring?

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Variations

In this experiment, we kept each type of material separate, but you can also experiment with mixing or layering the materials to make different types of rings. What happens if two materials are mixed together? What happens if two materials are arranged in inner and outer layers?

Is there a relationship between the amount of material and the robustness of the ring? Prepare several circles of the same material, but change the amount of material in each one. What will the difference be between the appearance of a less dense and more dense ring? How does this relate to the transparency of the rings of Saturn?

Another factor in the appearance of a ring is the speed of orbit about the planet. You can test this by using different speeds of rotation on your record player by changing the "rpm" or revolutions per minute. How does the appearance of the ring change as the rpm changes? Are the rings more robust at low speed or high speed? Do you think that all the rings of Saturn orbit at the same speed?

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Ask an Expert

The Ask an Expert Forum is intended to be a place where students can go to find answers to science questions that they have been unable to find using other resources. If you have specific questions about your science fair project or science fair, our team of volunteer scientists can help. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions, offer guidance, and help you troubleshoot.

Related Links

If you like this project, you might enjoy exploring these related careers:

Astronomer

Astronomers think big! They want to understand the entire universe—the nature of the Sun, Moon, planets, stars, galaxies, and everything in between. An astronomer's work can be pure science—gathering and analyzing data from instruments and creating theories about the nature of cosmic objects—or the work can be applied to practical problems in space flight and navigation, or satellite communications.
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Physicist

Physicists have a big goal in mind—to understand the nature of the entire universe and everything in it! To reach that goal, they observe and measure natural events seen on Earth and in the universe, and then develop theories, using mathematics, to explain why those phenomena occur. Physicists take on the challenge of explaining events that happen on the grandest scale imaginable to those that happen at the level of the smallest atomic particles. Their theories are then applied to human-scale projects to bring people new technologies, like computers, lasers, and fusion energy.
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Chemist

Everything in the environment, whether naturally occurring or of human design, is composed of chemicals. Chemists search for and use new knowledge about chemicals to develop new processes or products.
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